


Five Times Andy Flynn Screwed Up and One Time He Got It Right

by ClassicKAS19



Category: Major Crimes (TV)
Genre: 5 Times, Dating, F/M, Non-Dating Dating, Path to Matrimony, not dating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-07
Updated: 2017-11-28
Packaged: 2018-09-30 03:00:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,335
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10151909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ClassicKAS19/pseuds/ClassicKAS19
Summary: If there's anything that Andy Flynn excels at, it's screwing up his life, no matter how hard he tries to get it right.





	1. Go Deep

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Post 2x8: The Deep End

Andy didn’t even know why he had greed to do this. Yes, he did, who was he trying to fool. He was trying to make more amends, repair his relationship with his children, maybe even someday his ex-wife.

The wedding had gone well. They were all ready to start letting him back more fully into their lives, more than a quick drive by on the holidays. It was a clinical setting, carefully monitored by a professional, but it was a start. He just didn’t want to talk about his feelings. He wanted to be able to have dinner with his daughter and son without having to try to impress a stranger.

For being a family therapy session they were spending a lot of time talking about him. True, he was the “problem,” but this was beginning to spiral out of control. A simple question about Sharon, The Captain, had led to a seemly never ending spiral personal questions.

Therapists, they always latch onto that one thing they know you don’t want to discuss. Kate wasn’t helping, preening in her chair. She was practically obsessed with the idea of Sharon. Even though she had seen her with her own eyes, she still didn’t seem to believe that she really existed or that she would be involved with him in any way.

“Now, when did you say you met Sharon again?” Kate asked. The look in her eyes telling him she knew exactly what she was doing.

She still had the ability to really piss him off with so little effort. He tried to keep his temper in check, but the constant Sharon questions were starting to get to him.

“Look, I told you before, I don’t remember exactly when I met Sharon. It was a long time ago. Maybe around the time of my first officer involved shooting. I don’t know. A few years ago she started working more closely with my division and last year she became my commanding officer.” He figured that would shut her up, all the information she could possibly want.

“Dating your boss Dad?” Nicole asked, “Isn’t that against the rules? Or at least a risky move?”

Andy held back the sigh that he felt building in his chest. “I’m not dating Captain Raydor Nicole, we’re just friends.”

He swore he heard three barely contained scoffs from the other members of the group. Turning towards their therapist, he found no help there. He was still leaning back in his chair, fingers steepled in front of his mouth, taking in the family dynamic, his face betraying nothing.

“I don’t look at my friends like that.” He heard in a grumbled whisper from his left.

Andy could always count on his son to make the snarky comment. He knew exactly who he got that from; he had no one to blame but himself for that. He simply shook his head in disbelief.

Andy leaned forward in his chair, resting his elbows on his knees. Closing his eyes for a minute, he realized there was only one way he was going to be able to get out of this. He was going to have to lie. It was the only thing they were going to believe. At least the chances were slim that The Captain would ever have to find out. He took a deep breath and prayed that this would work.

“So, maybe, I haven’t been entirely truthful about my relationship with Sharon.” He took a quick breath and continued, seeing Kate gearing up for an argument out of the corner of his eye. “It’s true that we’re friends, very good friends, I guess you could say. But we’re not dating, not officially, not right now. We’re working on getting there, but it has to be handled very carefully. She is my boss after all. Okay?”

Andy made brief eye contact with his son, daughter and ex-wife in turn, noting each look ranging from weariness to contained joy to cautious disbelief.

“Okay” His son huffed.

“Okay” Nicole nearly giggled.

“Okay” Kate conceded in that tone that only she could use against him still.

“Okay,” their therapist finally piped in, “It seems like that’s all the time we have for today. I’ll see you all next time.”

“Yeah,” Andy thought to himself, “Maybe they’ll have forgotten all about The Captain by next time.”


	2. Off The Deep End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Post 2x14: All In

“I really hope that Sharon will be able to come.  We would all love to see her again.”  
   
“How are things going?  Still being careful?”  
   
Nicole and Kate’s comments from their last session had been echoing in his head for the last few days.  Why couldn’t they let Sharon go?  This case had messed with his head.  He knew what he should do; he knew what he wanted to do; both were very different options.  Provenza’s advice wasn’t exactly helpful either.  He had to show up with Sharon tomorrow night or it was all going to be over.  All of the work he had done to repair his relationship with his family would be undone.  What was one more lie?  Even if it was one to Sharon this time.  
   
I need a favor.  How did he ever convince himself she would believe that?  She was on to him and he knew it.  She knew that he knew it too.  There was no way he would ever be able to lie to her without her figuring it out.  To her credit she had given him an opportunity to come clean.  She had repeated it earlier at dinner as well.  Somewhere deep inside he really did want to tell her what was going on, but he was an idiot and wasn’t willing to face the truth until this lie blows up magnificently in his face.  
   
He could handle this.  How hard could it be to keep everyone talking about anything but his and Sharon’s relationship?  There were hundreds of thousands of other things they could talk about besides what he and Sharon were to each other.  Steer the conversation to The Nutcracker and the boys.  Ignore Kate and Frank.  There wouldn’t be much time to talk anyway.  A little small talk before the show, a little at intermission, a little after the show, piece of cake.  
   
Andy led Sharon across the lobby of the theatre.  Seeing Nicole waiting with her mother and step-father, he heaved a sigh.  
   
“Here we go.”  Andy’s step faltered for a moment and he drew to a stop.  
   
“Nothing to worry about.”  Sharon said, adjusting her grip on his upper arm, as if preparing to drag him the rest of the way if necessary.  “We’re going to have a wonderful evening at the ballet.”  
   
“Wonderful might be aiming a little high.  I’d settle for civil, a civil evening at the ballet.”  
   
“Just be nice and leave the rest to me.  That is why I’m here isn’t it?  The buffer who just happens to also have ballet knowledge.”  
   
“Sharon. . . “  
   
“Andy, let’s go say hello to your daughter and take it from there. It might not be all that bad. You may actually enjoy it.”

As they continued toward Nicole and the others, he could hardly believe his luck. Maybe she hadn’t figured out what was really going on. Maybe she thought she really was there for a ballet reason, just not the one he had made up for her. She thought he was trying gain some grandpa cred. He needed some ballet knowledge and she was it. It didn’t have anything to do with Nicole, it was all about him. If he kept her busy with that all night, she’d never have time to figure out everyone else thought she was there for a completely different reason.

Settling down between Sharon and Nicole, he took a breath. Everything was just fine, keep them focused on the ballet, it was okay. As the lights in the theatre began to dim, Sharon leaned into his personal space and without taking her eyes off the stage before them said:

“I hope someday you’ll be able to tell me what this is all really about.”

He quickly looked over at her, but her face betrayed no emotion. These little lies kept growing and growing, but they weren’t blowing up in his face as one would have anticipated. He had a feeling though that the fuze had just been lit and an explosion was headed his way. Someday he would learn to keep his big mouth shut.


	3. In Too Deep

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Post 3x13: Acting Out

This was the explosion he had been waiting for. All of the lies he had told over the last year were coming to a head, right here, right now, and just in time for Christmas. As he followed Nicole out of Sharon’s condo the only thing running through his head now was before this Christmas was over one of them was going to kill him and right now it was a toss up as to who would get to him first. Sure, they were both pretending everything was okay, but there was no way neither one of them was going to let this go that easily.  
  
Nicole had the wide smile she had inherited from him spread across her face on their ride down in the elevator, but with that girl you never knew what was really lurking just below the surface. He wanted to believe that she really wasn’t mad, since she hadn’t believed a word of what he and Sharon had said tonight.  
  
Sharon was another story though. She had that half smile smirk. That one she usually wore when suspects talked too much and she was getting ready to hang them with the noose they had made for themselves. He was suddenly dreading the evening even more than before.  
  
This car ride was the most uncomfortable one he could remember. Rusty and Nicole had claimed the backseat for themselves, forcing Sharon into the front with him. They were trying to pull her into the conversation every so often, but were only succeeding in getting one word answers from her. It was hard to tell how mad she was or if she even was at all. She hadn’t made eye contact once since they had gotten into the car, let alone acknowledge his existence. Her smile had turned into a frown as well. This was going to be the longest evening of his life. He had a feeling she wasn’t going to speak to him unless she had to, at least until she had worked through everything that had been presented to her over the last two days as evidence in the case that they were dating. He may as well figure out how he was going to apologize and make this up to her, if she let him. Without it seeming like they were a couple more than it already did of course.  
  
It was all perfectly innocent, if you ignored the lying to his family that had started it all. They were friends. They were both single now. When you have an extra ticket to something, you ask a friend. It doesn’t make it a date. It may have been everything in between the Japanese-American Museum and the Dodgers game and today that wasn’t so innocent; Things really were dates, things that could be done with friends, but not with the frequency they did. That made them dates.  
  
It had been so easy to pretend it was real. Sharon seemed willing to play along. True, she didn’t really know what game they were playing, but her own actions told him that she was open to whatever this was that they had together. Until Nicole had shown up to talk to her at work. Something had happened in that office and he wished he knew what exactly. He had never seen that look on her face before. Then ‘The Nutcracker as a family.’ Nicole had said ‘as a family’ in front of the entire squad. He hadn’t thought it could possibly get any worse. Dealing with Provenza was one thing, but the squad was another. Sharon had tried to backpedal to ‘as a group,’ but it was already out there, hanging like a banner: Family. It had all turned incredibly awkward and nothing he did helped. She couldn’t stand to be near him, let alone look at him. Even when she suggested dinner to clear up Nicole’s misunderstanding, he could tell it was the last thing she really wanted to do.  
  
Then when Rusty chimed in after dinner, ugh. Why did that kid have to be so perceptive all the time? Did he have some running list of everything they had done together in the last year? They had almost had Nicole convinced that they were just good friends, now that was never going to happen.  
  
By the time Andy arrived at the theatre he had no apology plan and had only managed to convince himself he was in an impossible situation and no matter what move he made next it would only lead to loosing Sharon’s friendship, let alone anything more that could have happened. But now it was time to face the music.

The minute they walked into that theatre Kate would know, through some sort of sick sixth sense, that something was wrong. That smirk would cross her face, the one she always got when she was relishing in his misfortune, having somehow known that this moment would be coming.

Taking a deep breath and steeling himself, Andy walked through the theatre door that Rusty was holding open for their small group. Giving him a nod of thanks, he continued into the theatre, following Nicole who had spotted her husband in the crowd. Then he felt it. A hand in his hand. Sharon's. She had consciously taken his hand. 'The Sharon Effect,' he wasn't sure about Nicole's definition, but he knew it was real. He was a different man with her beside him, even if only in friendship. The moment she took his hand he had felt all the worry and stress that had built up over the last few hours melt away.

"Here we go." She murmured under her breath as she laced her fingers with his.

He gave her hand a light squeeze and met her eyes. "Nothing to worry about. We're going to have a wonderful evening at the ballet."

Leading Sharon and Rusty to where their little group was waiting, he saw a different look on his ex-wife's face, one he hadn't seen in a very long time. Almost as if she were actually happy for him.

Everything was going to be okay, at least for tonight. Beyond that he didn't know. He had a feeling though, after all the wonderfulness of the holidays, he and Sharon were going to have a serious discussion. One where he wouldn't be doing very much talking.


	4. Wallowing In the Deep

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> During 4x14: Taking the Fall

This was getting really old, really fast. Listening to Provenza prattling on about who knows what while he’s stuck staring at the ceiling of his hospital room made him wish for better drugs, ones that would knock him out for hours. He had thought it had been bad stuck at home, Sharon’s condo, with nothing to do. This was so much worse.

Having to ask to stay with her because he couldn't be left alone had been a shot to his pride. Having to be babysat at his age, by the kid most of the time, was almost more than he could take. But it made Sharon happy, so he wouldn’t complain, that much.

A few weeks ago everything had been perfect. He and Sharon were finally on the same page and seemed to be in sync with each other. They were officially dating, in the old fashioned sense of the word, but they were dating. He had never believed they would actually get to this point after all his mistakes, but they had told their children and informed their commanding officer of the change in their relationship. With the holiday season quickly approaching they were both looking forward to an awkwardness-less Nutcracker this year. Everything was going well. Then he had to go and get thrown from a moving car.

Sitting on her couch for hours on end with nothing but daytime TV, Rusty and Patrice to keep him company he had had plenty of time to mull over this new life he was starting and how he got here. It had been touch and go for those first few weeks of the new year. He could tell that Sharon was being careful, still working through everything that had been said the night of The Nutcracker and the things that hadn’t been said in the days that followed. She kept more of a distance from him than before, but didn’t avoid him completely. He took a step back too, not wanting to scare her off, giving her a Christmas present, but not pressuring her with any deeper meanings. After all the time he had spent pretending they were together he had wanted it to be real now. He had limited his offers of dinner, movies and family outings, gradually increasing the frequency, but always allowing her the final decision.

The day she had accepted his invitation to dinner at Serve, even after the slip of the word romantic, had been the best result he could have hoped for. She finally seemed willing to admit that there was something beyond friendship between them. Never, well maybe in his wildest dreams, did he think that Sharon Raydor would be interested in a real relationship with him, especially with both of their pasts still haunting them.

He threw himself into being the best Andy Flynn he could be. Now that he really had the girl he didn’t want to risk losing her. He had needed to get better fast, stop being a burden on Sharon and Rusty, even if they both said it wasn’t a problem, they were glad to do it. He told them he was feeling better everyday. It hadn’t seemed like a big deal at the time. So he felt a little dizzy since starting the new medication. There were bound to be some side effects. He could deal with dizzy, he just had to move a little more slowly sometimes. No need to worry everyone further by telling them about a little dizziness.

When would he learn? You would think that after more than sixty years of experience he would have figured out that lying, even if it was by omission, wasn’t going to get him anywhere. Sure, his relationship with Sharon had started with a giant string of lies and it had turned out okay in the end, but this time it had had landed him in a hospital bed with a cracked skull and a life threatening blood clot in his neck.

Now she stood beside his bed, arms crossed and a look that his mother had given him so many times in his childhood, the one that said : ’What am I going to do with you?’ That look and the way she said his name, mildly reproachful, but sad and a little disappointed, made him feel the worst. He hated that he had put her through all this.

It was bad and he knew it, but there was nothing like a doctor yelling at you to put everything in perspective. He had known this blood clot was serious and now because of his lies it was life threatening. And she thought Sharon was his wife. From her mouth to God’s ears, if he was lucky. But it could all be over too soon.

He loved this woman and now she might never know. He couldn’t tell her now, not from this hospital bed, hours before surgery that might not be successful, not with Provenza and the kid looking on. Maybe it would be better for her in the end not to know. He had to send her away, back to the case, make her believe that he would be okay if she left, that he wasn’t scared he was going to die. Be the funny and charming Andy Flynn, crack a joke or two, put her attention back on the case and the Thanksgiving dinner she shouldn’t miss.

“Sharon, if you go back the case will probably end a lot sooner.” Please go. I don’t want to do this to you. He left those unsaid.

She met his eyes. Hopefully he was hiding the fear and sadness from his eyes that he could see in hers.

“I’ll be back as soon as I can.” Sharon says, reaching out to squeeze his hand, aware of the audience they have. “Try to stay out of trouble.” A smile barely ghosts across her face.

A charming smile, the ‘who me?’ throughly implied, is enough to send her past Provenza and Rusty towards the door. As she reaches the door she turns, giving him one last smile. I wonder if this will be the last time he will ever see her or, if by some miracle, he’ll get the chance to make it up to her one day. Maybe one day even make her his wife.


	5. Deep Shit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mid 5x14 Skin Deep

Today was supposed to have been such a great day. He found the perfect house at the perfect price in a perfect neighborhood. He should be out celebrating impending home ownership with his girlfriend. Instead he was sitting at home alone, cursing whomever had caused it all to go wrong. On top of everything, he hadn't heard from Sharon all night. She had taken a copy of Buzz's video home with her to look at the house this time, not the body. She would probably show Rusty too, if the kid was home, but she would have had time to do that by now. He was starting to get nervous.

He really knew how to stick his food in it didn't he? He had to learn to keep his mouth shut. At least he hadn't lied this time though. He had just been such a guy. He couldn't think of any other way to describe his actions today. He had been the stereotypical man in front of his girlfriend and their coworkers. And when he realized what he had said, did he stop? No, he just kept digging that hole. He had been effectively squashing his chauvinistic tendencies for years now-not even the barest hint showing over the last year or so, another byproduct of 'The Sharon Effect' Nicole would say. Sometimes though there was just something about Provenza's company that brought it out in him. Luckily Sharon wasn't around to ever witness it. Now after his display he wouldn't be surprised if there was an order for sensitivity training on his desk in the morning. She'd sent him for it numerous times in the past for lesser indiscretions than this. This time he wouldn't complain about having to go though. He deserved it.

Sitting here staring at his phone, willing it to ring or even buzz with a text wasn't doing him any good. He needed to use this time wisely, come up with an appropriate apology, not wallow in his self pity. He needed something heart felt that took into account all the horrible feelings of regret he was having right now, without it appearing he was groveling. But boy did he want to grovel. It was going to take some serious work to make up for this and he didn't even know where to start or if it was even possible for him to fix this at all.

With a huff Andy pushed himself up off the couch and began pacing around the room, never allowing his phone to leave his line of sight. He needed Sharon to call. He couldn't call and appear to be pressuring her in any way, but he needed to know where they stood or if there was even a 'them' anymore. He wanted to know if there was any chance he could make this right or if it was all over. His house hadn't been listed officially yet, he could still take it off the market without causing too many problems. He'd be out a little money, but he could make that up by eating at home more often. He wasn't going to have any reason to go out anymore.

When he had told Provenza earlier that this house could change his life, he hadn't meant like this. He wanted a happily ever after and that wasn't where this was headed right now. A happily ever after- a house in the Hollywood Hills, a pool in a yard made for entertaining and a family to share and enjoy it all with him. A family that loved him despite his faults, his children and grandchildren; he still held the tiniest hope for a wife and step-children someday if he could make this right. He would lose it all if he couldn't. Nicole would never forgive him. How would he ever explain this to her?

The ringing of his phone cutting through the silent house, startled him out of his worst case senecio musings. Rushing back to the table, he saw her name lighting up his screen. For a moment he was unsure what to do. He had been waiting all night for her to call and now that she was he had no idea what to say to her.

Andy took a deep breath and hit the accept button. It was now or never.

"Hey, uh, Sharon. I'm really glad you called." He heard her take a breath to respond and it all started spilling out of him. So much for finding out where they stood. "Look, I'm really sorry. I want you to know that I truly am. And I know I dug myself in to a pretty deep hole in electronics this afternoon. I don't know where that all came from."

"Andy. . ." He barely heard Sharon try to interrupt him.

"Just give it to me straight: How much trouble am I in? I would totally understand if you never wanted to speak to me, let alone see me again."

"Andy. . ."

"I was a chauvinistic pig, but I'm better than that. I can be better than that. I've learned from my mistakes. I really have. I've moved beyond all that"

There was a moment of silence. He could still hear her breathing, so she hadn't hung up on him yet. She finally asked:

"Are you finished?"

"Yes." he practically sighed with remorse.

"Okay. Now, yes, I will agree with you. You did dig yourself into a sizable hole and I should be very angry with you. You weren't behaving at all like my Andy."

"I know Sharon. . ."

"No interrupting. Chauvinistic pig might be a bit of an over exaggeration, but I can see your point. You did say some things today that, to some people, could be unforgivable."

Andy fought the urge to interrupt. He didn't need to be in any more trouble tonight.

"Never speaking to you again seems a little extreme and it would make working together rather awkward. I just don't know what to do with you Andy." Sharon let out a half laugh, the one that implied that this was in no way funny. When she didn't continue he felt it was safe to try one last apology.

"Sharon, I don't know if there' enough I could ever do or say to make this up to you. I just hope someday. . ." Andy trailed off into silence. He was sure he had heard laughter. "Sharon?" It was definitely laughter that she was trying to cover.

"Oh Andy." She managed to get out between bursts of laughter. "Honey, we're going to be fine. I'm not that upset. But, I knew if I left you to your own devices for long enough, you would adequately punish yourself for any transgression you thought you had committed."

"You let me stew all night on purpose?" He asked, unwilling to believe that this was something she was capable of doing to him.

"Yes." She answered simply. "I knew that anything I could do or say to you would pale in comparison to the punishment you would give yourself if I made you wait for my response."

"That's pretty devious." He noted, trying to keep the shock out of his voice.

"But it worked, didn't it. You sometimes forget Andy Flynn, I know you."

All Andy could do was laugh. She did know him, better than he had even imagined.

"Now, about this house. It could work for us. I do like it, but I'd like to see it for myself before we make any decisions."

"Great, that's great!" He could hardly contain himself. "I'll set something up with Jason when we're done with the investigation. This is great."

"Don't get too excited." Sharon warned. "You may have me on board with this house, but I have a feeling we're going to have some work to do to make this happen."

"Rusty." He sighed. Just when he thought things were going his way again.

"Rusty." She confirmed, echoing his sigh.


	6. Deepest

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Post 5x13: White Lies pt 3
> 
> Originally outlined without knowledge of seasons 5.2 or 6. Only slightly colored by what we have been given since. I also may have stolen a line that I found absolutely adorable.

It was almost Sharon’s birthday and he still hadn’t found a present that felt right.  He had spend hours here and there for weeks scouring The Grove and The Beverly Center, wandering in and out of store after store trying to find that perfect gift.  He found plenty of nice things, ones he was sure she would love, but nothing was quite right.  He had nearly caved so many times and called one of the kids or, god forbid, Provenza, for advice but he wanted to do this on his own.

 

He tried indirectly asking Sharon what she wanted, but was only rewarded with smiles.  She was on to him.  Then, when he straight out asked her what she would like, all he got was a peck on the cheek and a ‘I don’t need anything’ or ‘I have everything I need.’

 

But no matter how many time she insisted she didn’t need anything, there was no way he wasn’t giving her anything for her birthday.  Her sense of occasion was rubbing off on him.  She deserved so much more than he would ever be able to buy her, but he had to start somewhere.  Over the last few years he hadn’t had a chance to get her a real present.  Picking up her lunch tab had been appropriate when they were merely colleagues, maybe friends.  An invitation to a Dodger game under the guise of having an extra ticket the next year when he was pushing his luck and they were just good friends.  Last year it had been a gift that he was still alive and getting better every day.  She hadn’t wanted more than that.  A quiet night at home had been enough.  This year he could make up for everything.

 

If he was completely honest with himself, he knew what he wanted to get her.  He had picked it out months ago.  All he had to do was work up the courage to walk into that jewelry store and actually buy it.  But was it even appropriate?  Could he give it to her as a birthday present?  There were rules associated with this and with her love of the rules, he didn’t want to break a single one.  If he went through with this it had to be perfect.

 

And today he found himself pulling up to the curb in front of that small, family run jewelry store he had frequented for years.  Sitting behind the wheel of his car he took a few deep breaths before he opened his door and made his way into the small shop, the dinging of a bell announcing his presence.  Twenty minutes later the same bell announced his departure, a small bag clutched in his hand.  He had done it, bought the one thing he never thought he would be buying again in his life.

 

 

That tiny box had been staring back at him every time he opened his sock drawer for 7days and now that the day was finally here his doubts were beginning to set in.  What if he had read her all wrong?  He thought they were ready for this, but what if she wasn’t there yet?  He had always been ahead of her in their relationship; What if this was no different?  He could ruin everything by pushing her now.  There would be no way for him to talk his way out of this one if it all turned sour.  If he tried to lie, tell her his present hadn’t arrived yet, buy himself some more time, she would know right away.  The last two years had been ample time for her to learn all of his tells and made it nearly impossible for him to keep anything from her anymore.

 

They had solved their case with plenty of time to make the reservations he had made at  Serve; Even LA’s criminal element were apparently on their side.  But no matter how many times he reached his hand into his pocket to pull out her present, it always came back out empty.  No time seemed to be right.

 

Returning to the condo with her gift still in his pocket, Andy felt his time running out.  She had to know something was up.  He was sure he wasn’t acting normal, but he didn’t know how to fix it.

 

As Sharon followed him into the living room, leaving her bag just inside the door, she asked:

 

“Andy, are you feeling okay?  You don’t look very good; you’ve been off all evening.”

 

She stepped up and laid a hand to his forehead and looked into his eyes.

 

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine.” He replied, pulling his hand out of his pocket.  “It’s just, . . . here”  He thrust the small wrapped box into her hand.

 

“Oh!”  was her only response as she began to carefully unwrap.

 

He fought every instinct to turn his back to her, to avoid her reaction, but looked to his shoes instead, unable to maintain eye contact.

 

He heard a quick intake of breath, forcing him to look up again.

 

“Andy,”  she breathed out “What is this?”

 

He could tell from the look on her face and the tone of her voice that she was confused more than anything.  There was some shock evident, as she had yet to close her mouth or regain eye contact with him, but her confusion was overriding every other emotion he imagined she was having.  He couldn’t blame her.  He had handed her a very expensive ring and expected her to draw her own conclusions  The problem was he still wasn’t sure how to ask her what he wanted to ask her.

 

“It’s a ring.”  He stated simply, hoping it would be enough, but knowing it wouldn’t be.

 

“I can see that.”  She simply replied.

 

She wasn’t going to make this easy, but at least she had looked back up at him now.  He was just going to have to jump and hope for the best.  Andy took a deep breath and tried not to let the nervousness he was feeling color his voice.

 

“I wanted to give you something, some outward symbol of my commitment to you, of our commitment to each other and our relationship.  It can be whatever you want it to be.  If you ever want it to be more, okay; if you don’t and are happy with how things are, that’s okay too.”

 

“Andy!”  Her tone stopped his rambling immediately.  “What do you really want this to mean?” She asked, her voice softening again.  “What do you want to ask me?”

 

She had that knowing look, the look she got when she knew the answer to the question before she asked it.  She knew what he really wanted this to be.  He should have known he wouldn’t be able to hide anything from her.

 

“Marriage”  he blurted, shocking himself and Sharon, if the gasp she let escape was any indication.  She may have known what he was thinking, but she apparently had never expected him to actually say it.

 

“I want to marry you Sharon,” he continued “for you to marry me, for us to get married.   I know that marriage isn’t something that we’ve ever discussed, seriously, and it might seem like I’m rushing things; we haven’t been living together that long, but it’s something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately. . .”

 

“Andy,”  Sharon interrupted again.  When he saw the tears in her eyes he knew that he must have said something right.

 

He took the box out of her hands and removed the ring.

 

“So?” He simply asked.

 

“Yes, Andy, I’ll marry you.”

 

Even though there was a smile with the tears, he had another moment of doubt as he slipped the ring on her finger.

 

“If you don’t like it, I can take it back.  We can pick out something else; something you like more.”

 

He wouldn’t have believed it was possible for her to smile any brighter, but she did as she shook her head.

 

“No, it’s beautiful.  More than enough, really.”

 

Still holding on to her hand, afraid that if he let go he would find it had all been a dream, he asked:

 

“Is it selfish of me to want to keep this to ourselves for a little while?”  He continued quickly when he saw a look of confusion cross her face.  “We’ll tell the kids of course, but I’d like to keep the rest of the world in the dark.”

 

“Sounds good to me.  Give us a little time to enjoy this before we take it to the office with us.  But in order to keep this secret you’re going to have to get rid of this smile.”  She said reaching up to stroke his cheeks.  “It’s a dead giveaway.  The Lieutenant will know something’s up.”

 

“So we tell the kids and Provenza.”  He amended, pulling her close.

 

“It’s a deal.”


End file.
